


The Finer Points of Hiding

by MaladyPond



Series: Heart of Deluge [2]
Category: Highlander: The Series
Genre: spiritual cleansing, wrestling with demons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:28:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22626358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaladyPond/pseuds/MaladyPond
Summary: Lilith and her family deal with the aftermath of the events and revelations of the past few days.
Series: Heart of Deluge [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1610425
Kudos: 1





	1. Cleansing

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you, Stan Kirsch, for your portrayal of one of my favourite characters.

"I can't believe you did that," Richard Ryan said softly from Duncan's kitchen. "You actually agreed to go off with him if he'd won."

"He wouldn't have stopped coming after her. What I can't believe is how _you_ -" Lilith turned to face her daughter "- kept him from noticing you following him."

Heather giggled. "I stayed just outside his circle of perception. When he was close enough to sense you, I was able to sneak in."

"Using my buzz and Duncan's as a mask. Good thinking."

"Yeah," Adam concurred. "Someone had to teach her the finer points of hiding." He took a swig of beer. "Oh, no. Not _me_. Amanda taught her."

Duncan cast a wide-eyed look at his sister. " _Amanda_? The _thief_?"

She rolled her eyes. "Amanda the _survivor_. The wily. She gave me and Mum the makeover."

"Oh, this is wonderful!" He threw his hands up.

" _Speaking_ of makeovers," Lilith interjected before things got more heated. "I'll need to buy some new clothes. And so will you, lassie. I forgot how filthy I get when burying a body."

" _Mother_. But, ugh, you have his quickening inside of you."

"That's true. It's not pleasant. I'll have to go to the river."

"River?" Richie murmured.

"There's a river - more of a stream, really, in a forest. Difficult to find. I can wash away the wickedness there."

"Great. Why don't we go now?"

"Because I'd like nothing more than a hot bath and to sleep. Besides, it'll take time to get there. We'll need to pack. Camp there overnight."

"Oh. So . . . tomorrow?"

She inclined her head. "Tomorrow. We can stock up on what we'll need in a couple of hours, get some rest, and head out after breakfast."

Adam leaned on the counter. "What about the monastery? Why can't you go get cleansed there?"

"It doesn't feel right, depositing _that_ there. If I go to a stream, a running water source, it'll return to the . . . wherever our power comes from . . . and be purified. I'll go to the monastery afterwards for a bit of rest."

"Fair enough."

* * *

The hike through the forest took longer than Lilith had expected. Changes to the trails made it a challenge to find the old landmarks. They reached the little river in the late afternoon. The silence and seclusion of the area was almost eerie.

"What happens now?" Richie whispered.

Lilith took a measured breath. "We ask the forest, the trees, the river, their denizens . . . to accept us into this sacred space," her voice called out reverently.

A gentle rain began to fall, soft as mist.

She whispered a "Thank you," then kneeled by the running water and placed her fingertips upon the surface. "Cleanse me of the darkness, I beseech you. Rid my soul of wicked impulses. Allow me . . . Help me help others."

Methos dropped down beside her and placed his palms flat against the ground. "Permit me the grace of a fresh start that I might be a friend to those in need. Free me of the shackles of my past. Let me be renewed."

Heather felt herself similarly moved and held her hands up to the sky. "Please, free me from the nightmare that so recently ended. Let me find my way to peace."

Richard, unsure what to say, leaned against a tree and hoped he would be a good man, worthy of the faith others had in him.

Duncan watched them all in silence, memories of those he'd loved coursing through his mind.

When the rain eventually slowed and stopped, they set up a simple seating area atop the wet ground.

"This place is so beautiful," Richie remarked softly. "How does it stay so hidden?"

"Maybe the Old Ones protect it," Duncan offered. "I don't think I've even heard of this place. Does no one speak of it after being here?"

Lilith shook her head. "Being here changes people, heals broken hearts, mends wounded souls. It's not noted on any map I've seen. The last time I was out here, I found it by - some would say by accident."

"How'd you wind up so far from the city?"

"Oh . . . Fleeing from . . . an unwanted pursuer. I hadn't felt so calm in a very long time. Once the danger was past, I knew I had to leave the area. That was over twenty years ago."

"And you haven't been back since," Duncan guessed.

Again, she shook her head.

Methos pulled a container of sandwiches from his knapsack and asked if anyone else was hungry.

"Famished," Lilith stated as she gratefully accepted a triangle.

"What do we do after this?" Richie asked between bites. "Or do we just say _Thank You_ and sleep it off?"

"Pretty much," Methos replied. "Sit and reflect, think about what brought you here and where you want to go in life."

"With the setting of the sun," Lilith added, "we let go of the parts of the past that hold us back. The moon, the ever-changing moon, bathes us in the light of regeneration. And, with the dawn, we welcome a new day and a new beginning in our lives."

"That - that's beautiful," Richie whispered.

"Mother was a priestess in her younger days," Heather remarked with a smile.

Lilith chuckled. "Once a priestess, always a priestess."

He took her hand. "A priestess and a mother?"

"I never took a vow of chastity, dear. An oath to aid people on their journeys, to feed the hungry, things like that, yes. Always."

"And consecrating temples on occasion," the old man murmured.

"Special circumstances. Takes quite a bit out of me."

Richie inched closer to her, prompting her to rest her head on his shoulder. "Thank you for bringing me here," he murmured into her hair.

"Thank you for coming with me," she whispered back.


	2. Seclusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lilith uncovers something new and something old.

Everywhere she looked, there was darkness.

She couldn't see her hand in front of her face.  
"Hello?"

Not so much as an echo in the stillness.

"Where am I?" she wondered aloud.

"You are with me, Lilith. That is what you're calling yourself these days, isn't it?" The dead man's face came into view. "Hetil is such a nice name, though."

She averted her gaze. "How are you here, Walter? Shouldn't you be in whatever afterlife you've earned yourself?"

He spread his palms. "You're looking at it. I am _doomed_ ," he drew the word out, voice dripping with disdain. "Doomed to relive moments from my life until you see fit to release me."

She felt ill. "I am to be your keeper?"

His face broke into a grin.

Her knees gave out from under her until she thudded to the floor. "I have to . . . ugh . . . hold your soul locked away . . ."

"Until you feel I have atoned for loving so deeply."

She scoffed. "Love. You know nothing of love. You only ever sought to possess. To control."

He held up hand. "No. Merely to aid my paramours in bettering themselves."

"You really believe that, don't you?"

"It's the only way I ever knew how to love. With everything. With all that I am."

She shook her head. "You wanted someone to bow to your every whim. Someone you could mold into your idea of the perfect partner. One you could change as you saw fit as often as you desired."

He took half a step back. "Was it so wrong to want to help someone improve?"

"Improve? No. But you forced your attention on the unwilling. True improvement comes only when one is ready. Not when you say so."

"And you? Do you seek to improve, Hetil?"

"I change daily. And not because someone else demands it."

"Would you have gone with me? Had I won, had I proved myself to be the better fighter, would you have kept true to your word?"

She pushed down her disgust. "Yes."

"You would have kept me for youself, eh?" His eyes glistened.

"Kept you from hunting my daughter or anyone else, for that matter."

"You would have learned to love me," he stated confidently. "And I never hunted. Never took our way of life as a game or a sport. We could have been quite happy together. We could have achieved greatness! But I suppose I'll have to settle for residing within you like this." He smirked.

"Don't flatter yourself, Horatio Watkins. Residing in this little corner of my mind does not give you access to all my tricks. You have no idea what I'm capable of. Phoinix. Clarity. Labyrinth. Justice."

The bars of a cage dropped around him. "Keeping me safe where you can find me. Kinky! No! Wait!" He continued crying out as the darkness enveloped him once again.

Lilith jolted awake with her hand clutching a small river rock. She lifted it to get a better view of it in the dim moonlight; it appeared to have a symbol carved into it.

She tilted her face towards the sky and wondered how she'd deal with this. A sacred space was, of course, the wisest option. Offered the choice, she would gladly deposit his soul and/or consciousness into a receptacle to be locked away for all time.  


But, if she must be the prison, she would accept the responsibility.

Sunrise was still over an hour away and she needed to be alone with this revelation.


End file.
